Connect to and manage a Power BI tenant in Microsoft Purview (Same Tenant)

This article outlines how to register a Power BI tenant in a same-tenant scenario, and how to authenticate and interact with the tenant in Microsoft Purview. For more information about Microsoft Purview, read the introductory article.

Supported capabilities

Metadata Extraction	Full Scan	Incremental Scan	Scoped Scan	Classification	Labeling	Access Policy	Lineage	Data Sharing	Live view
Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes*

* Power BI items in a Microsoft Fabric tenant are available using live view.

When scanning Power BI source, Microsoft Purview supports:

• Extracting technical metadata including:

  • Workspaces
  • Dashboards
  • Reports
  • Datasets including the tables and columns
  • Dataflows
  • Datamarts

• Fetching static lineage on assets relationships among above Power BI artifacts and external data source assets. Learn more from Power BI lineage.

For a list of metadata available for Power BI, see our available metadata documentation.

Supported scenarios for Power BI scans

Scenarios	Microsoft Purview public access allowed/denied	Power BI public access allowed /denied	Runtime option	Authentication option	Deployment checklist
Public access with Azure IR	Allowed	Allowed	Azure Runtime	Managed Identity / Delegated authentication / Service principal	Review deployment checklist
Public access with Self-hosted IR	Allowed	Allowed	Self-hosted runtime	Delegated authentication / Service principal	Review deployment checklist
Private access	Denied	Allowed	Managed VNet IR (v2 only)	Managed Identity / Delegated authentication / Service principal	Review deployment checklist
Private access	Allowed	Denied	Self-hosted runtime	Delegated authentication / Service principal	Review deployment checklist
Private access	Denied	Allowed	Self-hosted runtime	Delegated authentication / Service principal	Review deployment checklist
Private access	Denied	Denied	Self-hosted runtime	Delegated authentication / Service principal	Review deployment checklist

Known limitations

• If Power BI tenant is protected behind a private endpoint, standard or kubernetes supported self-hosted runtimes are the only options to scan.
• Delegated authentication and service principal are the only supported authentication options when a self-hosted integration runtime is used during the scan.
• If Power BI dataset schema isn't shown after scan, it's due to one of the current limitations with Power BI Metadata scanner.
• Empty workspaces are skipped.
• Other limits please refer to Microsoft Purview limits.

Prerequisites

Before you start, make sure you have the following prerequisites:

• An Azure account with an active subscription. Create an account.

• An active Microsoft Purview account.

Authentication options

• Managed Identity
• Delegated Authentication
• Service Principal

Deployment checklist

Use any of the following deployment checklists during the setup or for troubleshooting purposes, based on your scenario:

Register Power BI tenant

This section describes how to register a Power BI tenant in Microsoft Purview for same-tenant scenario.

1. Select the Data Map on the left navigation.

2. Then select Register.

   Select Fabric as your data source. It includes Power BI sources and assets.

   

3. Give your data source a name.

   The name must be between 3-63 characters long and must contain only letters, numbers, underscores, and hyphens. Spaces aren't allowed.

   By default, the system will find the Fabric tenant that exists in the same Microsoft Entra tenant.

4. Select the collection where you want to register the source.

5. Select Register.

Scan same-tenant Power BI

Authenticate to Power BI tenant

In Microsoft Entra tenant, where Power BI tenant is located:

1. In the Azure portal, search for Microsoft Entra ID.

2. Create a new security group in your Microsoft Entra ID, by following Create a basic group and add members using Microsoft Entra ID.

   Tip

   You can skip this step if you already have a security group you want to use.

3. Select Security as the Group Type.

   

4. Add relevant user to the security group:

   • If you're using Managed Identity as authentication method, add your Microsoft Purview managed identity to this security group. Select Members, then select + Add members.

     

   • If you're using delegated authentication or service principal as authentication method, add your service principal to this security group. Select Members, then select + Add members.

5. Search for your Microsoft Purview managed identity or service principal and select it.

   

   You should see a success notification showing you that it was added.

   

Associate the security group with Power BI tenant

1. Log into the Power BI admin portal.

2. Select the Tenant settings page.

   Important

   You need to be a Power BI Admin to see the tenant settings page.

3. Select Admin API settings > Allow service principals to use read-only Power BI admin APIs (Preview).

4. Select Specific security groups.

   

5. Select Admin API settings > Enhance admin APIs responses with detailed metadata and Enhance admin APIs responses with DAX and mashup expressions > Enable the toggle to allow Microsoft Purview Data Map automatically discover the detailed metadata of Power BI datasets as part of its scans.

   Important

   After you update the Admin API settings on your power bi tenant, wait around 15 minutes before registering a scan and test connection.

   

   Caution

   When you allow the security group you created (that has your Microsoft Purview managed identity as a member) to use read-only Power BI admin APIs, you also allow it to access the metadata (e.g. dashboard and report names, owners, descriptions, etc.) for all of your Power BI artifacts in this tenant. Once the metadata has been pulled into the Microsoft Purview, Microsoft Purview's permissions, not Power BI permissions, determine who can see that metadata.

   Note

   You can remove the security group from your developer settings, but the metadata previously extracted won't be removed from the Microsoft Purview account. You can delete it separately, if you wish.

Create scan for same-tenant Power BI using Azure IR and Managed Identity

This is a suitable scenario, if both Microsoft Purview and Power BI tenant are configured to allow public access in the network settings.

To create and run a new scan, do the following:

1. In the Microsoft Purview Studio, navigate to the Data map in the left menu.

2. Navigate to Sources.

3. Select the registered Power BI source.

4. Select + New scan.

5. Give your scan a name. Then select the option to include or exclude the personal workspaces.

   

   Note

   Switching the configuration of a scan to include or exclude a personal workspace will trigger a full scan of Power BI source.

6. Select Test Connection before continuing to next steps. If Test Connection failed, select View Report to see the detailed status and troubleshoot the problem.

   1. Access - Failed status means the user authentication failed. Scans using managed identity will always pass because no user authentication required.
   2. Assets (+ lineage) - Failed status means the Microsoft Purview - Power BI authorization has failed. Make sure the Microsoft Purview managed identity is added to the security group associated in Power BI admin portal.
   3. Detailed metadata (Enhanced) - Failed status means the Power BI admin portal is disabled for the following setting - Enhance admin APIs responses with detailed metadata

   

7. Set up a scan trigger. Your options are Recurring, and Once.

   

8. On Review new scan, select Save and run to launch your scan.

   

Create scan for same-tenant using self-hosted IR with service principal

This scenario can be used when Microsoft Purview and Power BI tenant or both, are configured to use private endpoint and deny public access. Additionally, this option is also applicable if Microsoft Purview and Power BI tenant are configured to allow public access.

For more information related to Power BI network, see How to configure private endpoints for accessing Power BI.

For more information about Microsoft Purview network settings, see Use private endpoints for your Microsoft Purview account.

To create and run a new scan, do the following:

1. In the Azure portal, select Microsoft Entra ID and create an App Registration in the tenant. Provide a web URL in the Redirect URI. For information about the Redirect URI see this documentation from Microsoft Entra ID.

   

2. Take note of Client ID(App ID).

   

3. From Microsoft Entra dashboard, select newly created application and then select App registration. From API Permissions, assign the application the following delegated permissions:

   • Microsoft Graph openid
   • Microsoft Graph User.Read

   

4. Under Advanced settings, enable Allow Public client flows.

5. Under Certificates & secrets, create a new secret and save it securely for next steps.

6. In Azure portal, navigate to your Azure key vault.

7. Select Settings > Secrets and select + Generate/Import.

   

8. Enter a name for the secret and for Value, type the newly created secret for the App registration. Select Create to complete.

   

9. If your key vault isn't connected to Microsoft Purview yet, you'll need to create a new key vault connection

10. In the Microsoft Purview Studio, navigate to the Data map in the left menu.

11. Navigate to Sources.

12. Select the registered Power BI source.

13. Select + New scan.

14. Give your scan a name. Then select the option to include or exclude the personal workspaces.

    Note

    Switching the configuration of a scan to include or exclude a personal workspace will trigger a full scan of Power BI source.

15. Select your self-hosted integration runtime from the drop-down list.

    

16. For the Credential, select service principal and select + New to create a new credential.

17. Create a new credential and provide required parameters:

    • Name: Provide a unique name for credential
    • Authentication method: Service principal
    • Tenant ID: Your Power BI tenant ID
    • Client ID: Use Service Principal Client ID (App ID) you created earlier

    

18. Select Test Connection before continuing to next steps. If Test Connection failed, select View Report to see the detailed status and troubleshoot the problem

    1. Access - Failed status means the user authentication failed. Scans using managed identity will always pass because no user authentication required.
    2. Assets (+ lineage) - Failed status means the Microsoft Purview - Power BI authorization has failed. Make sure the Microsoft Purview managed identity is added to the security group associated in Power BI admin portal.
    3. Detailed metadata (Enhanced) - Failed status means the Power BI admin portal is disabled for the following setting - Enhance admin APIs responses with detailed metadata

    

19. Set up a scan trigger. Your options are Recurring, and Once.

    

20. On Review new scan, select Save and run to launch your scan.

Create scan for same-tenant using self-hosted IR with delegated authentication

This scenario can be used when Microsoft Purview and Power BI tenant or both, are configured to use private endpoint and deny public access. Additionally, this option is also applicable if Microsoft Purview and Power BI tenant are configured to allow public access.

For more information related to Power BI network, see How to configure private endpoints for accessing Power BI.

For more information about Microsoft Purview network settings, see Use private endpoints for your Microsoft Purview account.

To create and run a new scan, do the following:

1. Create a user account in Microsoft Entra tenant and assign the user to Microsoft Entra role, Fabric Administrator. Take note of username and sign in to change the password.

2. Assign proper Power BI license to the user.

3. Navigate to your Azure key vault.

4. Select Settings > Secrets and select + Generate/Import.

   

5. Enter a name for the secret and for Value, type the newly created password for the Microsoft Entra user. Select Create to complete.

   

6. If your key vault isn't connected to Microsoft Purview yet, you'll need to create a new key vault connection

7. Create an App Registration in your Microsoft Entra tenant. Provide a web URL in the Redirect URI.

   

8. Take note of Client ID(App ID).

   

9. From Microsoft Entra dashboard, select newly created application and then select App registration. Assign the application the following delegated permissions, and grant admin consent for the tenant:

   • Power BI Service Tenant.Read.All
   • Microsoft Graph openid
   • Microsoft Graph User.Read

   

10. Under Advanced settings, enable Allow Public client flows.

11. In the Microsoft Purview Studio, navigate to the Data map in the left menu.

12. Navigate to Sources.

13. Select the registered Power BI source.

14. Select + New scan.

15. Give your scan a name. Then select the option to include or exclude the personal workspaces.

    Note

    Switching the configuration of a scan to include or exclude a personal workspace will trigger a full scan of Power BI source.

16. Select your self-hosted integration runtime from the drop-down list.

    

17. For the Credential, select Delegated authentication and select + New to create a new credential.

18. Create a new credential and provide required parameters:

    • Name: Provide a unique name for credential
    • Authentication method: Delegated auth
    • Client ID: Use Service Principal Client ID (App ID) you created earlier
    • User name: Provide the username of Fabric Administrator you created earlier
    • Password: Select the appropriate Key vault connection and the Secret name where the Power BI account password was saved earlier.

    

19. Select Test Connection before continuing to next steps. If Test Connection failed, select View Report to see the detailed status and troubleshoot the problem

    1. Access - Failed status means the user authentication failed. Scans using managed identity will always pass because no user authentication required.
    2. Assets (+ lineage) - Failed status means the Microsoft Purview - Power BI authorization has failed. Make sure the Microsoft Purview managed identity is added to the security group associated in Power BI admin portal.
    3. Detailed metadata (Enhanced) - Failed status means the Power BI admin portal is disabled for the following setting - Enhance admin APIs responses with detailed metadata

    

20. Set up a scan trigger. Your options are Recurring, and Once.

    

21. On Review new scan, select Save and run to launch your scan.

    

Scope your scan

This feature is currently in preview. The Supplemental Terms of Use for Azure Previews include additional legal terms that apply to Azure features that are in beta, in preview, or otherwise not yet released into general availability.

In the Scope your scan stage, data source administrators can scope the scans by specifying the workspaces as needed. Data source administrators can either select from the workspace list under the tenant or directly input the workspace GUIDs to scope the scan. No additional permission is required to use the scoped scan. There are two options available and by default the option "No" is selected and you can directly click on "Continue" to proceed to run a full scan or select the "Yes" to enable the scoped scan experience.

If the scoped scan is enabled, you will see a list of existing workspaces under the tenant on the left hand side (currently there’s a limitation that the UI selection experience only supports less than 5000 workspaces) and you can select the workspaces and add to the list on the right hand side. If personal workspace is configured as "Include", personal workspaces will show in the workspace list with a prefix "PersonalWorkspace ". You can directly click on the workspace(s) and click on the button "Add to list" to put the workspaces to the list of selected workspaces. You can input keyword of the workspace name or workspace GUID in the search box to filter out the workspace(s) for selection.

You can also directly input the workspace GUID and add it to the list of selected workspaces.

Next steps

Now that you've registered your source, follow the below guides to learn more about Microsoft Purview and your data.

• Data Estate Insights in Microsoft Purview
• Lineage in Microsoft Purview
• Search Data Catalog